Andromeda
by J M Flag
Summary: I'm always there, but no one pays any attention unless they're looking for me. I'm not necessarily pretty, and I may look close, but I'm always distant. I am not a thing of wonder, more like a fiery ball of hurt emotion and fear covered with a mask of fake confidence. But, if you come too close, I burn and I destroy.
1. Chapter 1

It was late and the only people left walking around downtown Los Angeles were few and far between. The team had come back from a mission earlier that day, and were just now walking out of a small restaurant that Face had convinced everyone on before dropping Murdock back at the V.A.

"Boy, that was some of the best pasgetti I've had in a long time." Murdock announce happily, throwing a menu folded into a paper plane into the chilly night air and watching it flutter back to the ground a few feet ahead.

Face smirked triumphantly, "I _told_ you Louis' was a good choice."

"No one said anything against it." Hannibal said.

Murdock rushed forward and retrieved the airplane and threw it into the air again. I flew straight forward until a stray wind caught it and pushed along to the side and into an alley.

Having already reached the van, Face pulled open the side door and got in, "Come on, Murdock."

The pilot looked back and forth between the van and the alley, a undecided looked scrawled on his face, "Hold your palominos, I'm gonna go get my plane first." He said, pointing it's direction out for his team-mate, "It'll only take a sec."

B.A. growled, "Get in the van, it's only a little paper thing, you can always make another."

"Yeah, but this one is special! I got to color on it and it's even got a commemorative pasta sauce stain on it!"

Hannibal bit into the end of his cigar and grinned, "Go get your plane, Captain, but hurry up."

Murdock grinned and saluted before tearing off in the other direction. Hands in his pockets, he looked around as he walked, trying to see where the blue origami plane had landed. He smiled as he spotted it, up a few feet sitting next to a dumpster.

As he reached down, he spotted something else, the corner of what looked to be a jacket, behind said dumpster. He cocked his head and stood up and peeked around the edge to see what was there.

What he saw shocked him. He quickly turned around and hurried back to the van where the others where waiting, "What took so long, Fool?" B.A. snarled.

"Hannibal, you better come see this." he panted in response.

Hannibal gave him a questioning look, but opened the passenger door and got out. Face and B.A. follow suit and did the same, curiosity peaked at what Murdock could be talking about.

Once the reached the dumpster, Murdock put a finger over his lips, signaling the others to keep quiet. They walked forward, and there, leaning against the dumpster was a girl.

From the faint light of a street light, they could see she was in her early teens. She had curly, honey-blond hair that hung and round her thin face, extremely pale skin, and was wearing jeans, a navy blue hoodie, and torn skate shoes.

Everyone's jaw dropped, and they turned to look at each other, "What do we do with her, Hannibal?" Face whispered.

"Well, first thing's first, we'll have to wake her up. She's probably a runaway."

They nodded and Murdock reached out and tapped the teenager on the shoulder, "Hey, Sweetie, rise and shine." he said softly.

The girl's eyes shot open in fear, the violet-blue orbs showing nothing but terror. She scrambled against the wall held out the brown backpack she had been holding in her lap.

"I-it's all I have." she choked out when she saw the incredulous expressions of the four strange men that stood before her.

B.A.'s heart melted into a puddle at the sight and smiled kindly at her, "We don't wanna rob you, lil' sister, we just wanna help you."

The girl's eyes darted around, looking for an escape route. She carefully pulled herself off the groudnd and bit her lip, "L-look," she stuttered, "I'd, uh, love to stay and chat, but I've got places to go, people to see. So, um, see yah later."

With that, she scrambled away and darted down the alley. But right as she made it to the sidewalk, she stopped, clutched the back of her head, and fell to the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

I smiled and turned over, cuddling the blankets and pillow closer to my body.

Wait. Blankets? Pillow? What the heck?!

I opened my eyes and what I saw made me sit up in confusion. I was in a room, it wasn't that fancy, in fact, it was kind of shabby at that. Faded wallpaper, a bedside table, a fold up chair sitting in the corner with my things piled up on top of it,and Excalibur, sitting at the foot of the bed staring at me.

I groaned and smacked my forehead, why didn't he wake me up? Or at least claw at my kidnappers or something? Good for nothing cat.

I pulled my legs over the side of the bed to find I still has my clothes and shoes on. That was a good sign... When I stood up, my world went spinning, and I had to steady myself before making a racket and sending someone running.

Okay, so if I'm not tied up, bleeding, or dead, that means the door is probably locked, but it never hurts to try. I grabbed my backpack and reached for the doorknob, finding it unlocked. Mustering up some courage, I carefully pulled the door open and peaked out.

There was a long hallway, two doorways branching off on either side and one straight ahead. Judging by the peephole and the mail-slot, that's my way out. I pulled the door open, pushing some pressure down on it to ease some squeaks, and tiptoed out.

"Meeerooow..."

I cringed and turned around, and hushed the loud feline, "Do yah wanna wake up everyone in this whole place?" I whispered harshly. Carefully stepping against the carpet, I stopped on the edge of the doorway. I could smell coffee.

Peeked around the corner and saw some white-haired guy sitting there reading a paper, sitting in the direction of the doorway. Drat, there goes my easy escape. I should probably go back to the room, maybe find a window or something.

I turned around and ran right into someone. A tall guy with a blue baseball cap on, a plaid shirt and Chuck Taylor tennis shoes. He looked at me with a funny expression, "Mornin'," and walked right past into the kitchen.

I furrowed my eyebrows, then thought for a second and turned and followed him, "What do yah mean, 'Morning'? You're not gonna grab me and throw me back into the room or something?"

Me and my stupid mouth. And my stupid brain.

* * *

Hannibal looked up, the girl standing there bewildered, and he smiled, "Good morning, why don't you come on in and have something to eat?" he grinned, ignoring her outburst.

She cautiously came forward and pulled out a chair.

"This is Murdock, Hannibal introduced, "but I see you two have already met."

Murdock reached into the cupboard and returned to the table with a box of frosted flakes, "I always like to find the prizes. They taste great, yah know?"

The girl rested her head in her arms and didn't bother to respond.

Hannibal watched the girl intently, "Say, kid, what's your name?"

This time, she raised her head and eyed him warily, "Wouldn't you like to know."

Murdock smiled kindly, "Come on, he ain't gonna bite you if he finds out your name."

She looked at the two of them a bit sullenly, "Abraham Lincoln."

Hannibal and Murdock looked at each other, "Look, kid, I'm absolutely positive that isn't your real name. If you don't want to answer that then how about just telling us how old you are." Hannibal coaxed.

"Four score and seven years ago-" she started.

Murdock got a dumbfounded look on his face, "Hey, Hannibal, I don't think you can call her kid anymore."

"What?"

"She just told you she was eighty-seven years old!" Murdock exclaimed, "Wow, President Lincoln, you sure have aged well!" he said, reaching out and shaking the girl's hand.

She frowned, "His name is Hannibal, and you think _I'm _crazy?"

Just then B.A. and Face walked in, "What's all the yelling about?" Face yawned rubbing his eyes.

"We're just trying to find out the girl's name, oh, Facial One."

"Ah, well, my name is Templeton Peck, nice to meet you."

The girl grunted, and pushed her face into her arms again, "Wonderful. And now we add a pretty boy to the picture..." she muttered from her sleeves.

Hannibal chuckled, "Well, we gotta call you something."

She jerked her head up and looked up at him, "Why? Why do I have to have a name?"

"..."

"That's what I thought. Well, if you need to call me anything, you can call me Andromeda."

Face raised an eyebrow, "Why 'Andromeda'?"

"Put it this way, I'm always there, but no one pays any attention unless they're looking for me. I'm not necessarily pretty, and I may look close, but I'm always distant. But, it doesn't matter anyhow. I'm leaving." she responded, getting up and walking away.

Right when she reached the doorway, though, she stumbled, and reached out to steady herself, "I doubt that, you shouldn't even be standing up, let alone out of bed. You've got a concussion, you know." Face called.

The girl bit her lip and cursed under her breath as she slid to the ground and leaned against the wall, "Fine, I guess I'm stuck here for a while, but if any one of you tries to come within ten feet of me, I'll have Excalibur rip your throat out."

The room got quiet, "Excalibur?" the team chorused out.

She furrowed her eyebrows and pointed to an empty spot next to her, "Excalibur. See? The nasty lookin' cat with fangs?"

B.A. moaned, "Not another one..."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for readin' ;) Andromeda is kind of hard to write for her POV, but other than that... meh. Okay, thanks for wasting your time with this! Please review! -JM**


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